Kryptonite
by Leftomaniac
Summary: Starts out a little angsty, but ends happily. It's, I nono, maybe a year or two in the future, and Zim is a very different person.


Warning: Kinda angsty, done in Depressed mode, but ends on an upbeat note. Zim finds out... again. And pulls guidance from a song. (Kryptonite, by 3 Doors Down. If you interpret it right, its SCARY how much it applies to Zim) So, in case you're the slow type, this is a songfic. Contemplation fic too. Yup. The song's been spliced a tad in places  
  
No own. (I'm trying to win an award for shortest disclaimer!)  
  
I did this late at night, and I really can't tell if it's good or not, so if it DOES suck, forgive me and get on with your life.  
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Fft... fft... fft... The sharply heeled boots stabbed the soft, yeilding earthen soil. One could almost feel the cool, grainy texture. It was dark, and the city had switched to it's night colors, making it look even more gothic than usual. A smallish green figure advanced slowly across the park, onto the sidewalk.  
  
/I took a walk around the world/   
/To ease my troubled mind/  
  
Zim was walking. Normally he rarely went for walks with no destination. The idea of being out, alone, on an enemy planet, surrounded by danger and *madness* did not appeal to him. But at the moment he didn't care, he had too much to think about.  
  
/I left my body lying/  
/Somewhere in the sands of time/  
  
Somewhere in his past was the proud, fearless, passionate Invader he had once been. He knew he could never get him back now. Not after tonight.   
  
/I watched the world float/   
/To the dark side of the moon.../  
/I feel there's nothing I can do/  
  
He couldn't believe it. He had never felt so helpless...  
  
/I watched the world float/   
/To the dark side of the moon/  
  
Now that he knew.  
  
/After all, I knew it had to/   
/Have something to do with you.../  
  
They hadn't even thought there would be a planet there. They had just hoped he'd keep going and going, eternally searching, never finding. Dying a cruel and painful death. He should have known, the signs were all there. But he'd been blinded, blinded by his pride, but even more so, by his devotion.  
  
/I really don't mind what happens now and then/  
/As long as you'll be my friend at the end/  
  
He and the Tallest had once been brothers. 'Brothers' was a symbolic term, of course, there were no family units on Irk. But they had been very close friends.  
  
/I left my body lying/   
/Somewhere in the sands of time/  
  
It wasn't every day that someone as short as him had a chance in an operation as important as Impending Doom I. It was his connection to the Tallest that allowed him that privalege.  
  
/If I went crazy/  
/Then would you still call me Superman?/  
  
He smiled a little. In retrospect, it was almost funny. He still couldn't remember what had possesed him to act as he did. Well, the moment was past now. What he truely couldn't understand was why the Tallest had turned on him so suddenly after that. Alright, he admitted it, he had gone a bit overboard. But they were 'brothers', they were supposed to forgive under any circumstances.  
  
/If I'm alive and well/  
/Will you be there, holding my hand?/  
  
They hadn't even told him of his banishment directly, they had sent a messenger, who sent a messenger-bot, who had sent a sub-messanger-bot, who had sent a postal worker to notify him. How impersonal can you get?  
  
/You took for granted all the times/  
/I never let you down/  
  
He had always been a good soldier, a worthy Invader. He had struggled through his embarassing lack of height.  
  
/I'll keep you by my side/   
/With my superhuman might/  
  
When he received his 'mission', he knew they had forgiven him, and he felt superirken. He knew that with the Tallest and the Armada behind him, he was invincable. This time, he would show them what kind of an Invader he was. But tonight... the truth was...  
  
/Kryptonite/  
  
...so painful to hear. He wondered how long they would have been willing to allow him to go on believeing thier beautiful lie. He might not even know now, if Purple hadn't spilled Gwava Juice on the transmitter, preventing it from giving him the obligatory fifteen-minute 'Please Stand By' message before putting him through.   
"Zim again."  
"Didn't he call LAST week?"  
"Hey, YOU were the one who thought that patch of space was empty."  
"Well how is that *my* fault?"  
The argument had continued for a while before they became aware of him watching them. At first they looked at him in shock, unsure of what he would do. He hadn't heard another thing they had said, all he could hear were those two words: 'Zim again.' Eventually, they had akwardly cut the feed.  
  
/You called me strong, you called me weak/  
/But still your secrets I will keep/  
  
Even here, on this smelly dirt ball, his only thoughts were of pleasing them. Well, no, that wasn't entirely true, he had wanted recognition, of that there was no doubt, but mostly, he wanted to please them. To see them happy with him again, *proud* of him again. He had been careful not to let any advanced technology get into the hands of the enemy. Until tonight, when he found out *he* was apparently the enemy.  
  
/I took a walk around the world/   
/To ease my troubled mind/  
  
He sighed again. Well, he couldn't go back to Irk. There were other planets of course... all either Irken allies, or under Irken control. He supposed he could find another that had not made contact yet, but he doubted it would be much better than earth. He still hated Earth, though he no longer felt quite the same level of superiority. Still, at least here he could breathe the air, and wasn't crushed by the gravity. And now, with all illusions of conquest dissolved, he could admit to himself that it had, in some small way, begun to grow on him. A smile graced his lips. Yes, though he still despised humans, there were some things he had begun to enjoy. In that way, he *had* betrayed the Tallest after all. Perhaps he deserved his fate. He had become more human.  
  
As if to drive the point home, at that moment, a song, a human song, came unbidden to his mind. He remembered each note with perfect precision. Irkens had an uncanny memory for sound quality, how else would the Tallest have recognized his voice over the thousands of other Irkens at The Great Assigning? Without really wanting to, he began to sing.  
  
"If I went crazy then   
would you still call me superman?"  
  
His pace quickened, and his mood lightened. Strange how music could affect one's emotions. He began to sway as he walked to the upbeat tune.  
  
"If I'm alive and well  
will you be there holding my hand?"  
  
His head bobbed, his toes tapped, he almost danced to the inaudiable music.  
  
"I'll keep you by my side   
with my superhuman might,"  
  
He impulsivly grabbed hold of a lamppost, and swung around on it, under an unitentional spotlight. He sung out the last word of the chorus passionatly, though to him it was a nonsensical word.  
  
"Kryptonite!"  
  
----  
  
Dib was shocked to see his rival out alone, singing and dancing. "...Zim?" he said, unbelieveing. "Zim!" he called, louder. The alien's head snapped around, looking at him with equal confusion. "What are you DOING?" asked Dib.   
  
Zim looked at Dib. No, he decided, he would not tell him. Running from and after Dib was and would be the most exciting and interesting aspect of his exile. Let the human think he was still after Earth. He sneered and turned back towards his base. This walk had done him good, in a way he had never expected.  
  
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The End! BTW, I'm almost done with the next chapter of It Had to Happen Eventually, though it's going very slowly, even slower now with the book and all, but it should be up in the next few days:c) 


End file.
